Insomnia
by Doctor Emmit Brown
Summary: Ranma is having trouble sleeping at night. What seems to be bothering him? WAFFy MY FIRST FIC! PLEASE R&R!


Insomnia  
  
Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and all it's characters are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I'm just borrowing them for a little while.  
  


* * *

  
Ranma turned over in his futon again. He gazed through the darkness at the clock on the wall. 4:30 in the morning. He had to get up in about two hours to get ready for school, and he hadn't slept a wink. He turned over again to face the giant panda sleeping peacefully next to him. Well, maybe "peacefully" wasn't the correct term for it, as the animal was fidgeting in his sleep, and snoring loudly.  
  
'It looks like he's dreaming of fighting me again' Ranma thought to himself. 'I hope I win...'  
  
Ranma sat up and gazed out the open shoji. A gentle breeze rushed through the trees, causing the branches to sway gently, and blowing the sent of the sakura blossoms through the air, and into the room. The sent invaded his nose, and caused him to remember again...  
  


* * *

  
It was the previous evening. Ranma was in the dojo doing some katas before bed in an effort to burn off the last of his energy before turning in. It was then that she walked in. She stood in the doorway, dressed in her usual yellow gi, a hand brushing through her short raven hair, watching as he flowed through the movements of the kata gracefully. She didn't make a sound, but instead, was content to watch him for a while, not wishing to interrupt his concentration. She watched as he punched and kicked at the air, admiring his graceful form. She envied his speed, knowing that she could not do such a complex kata so quickly with no mistakes. And she admired his muscled body, which was not overly developed, but still belied the power that lurked in the chiseled arms and legs and back.  
  
Ranma finished the kata, and turned to get his towel. As he turned, he noticed her standing in the doorway. Slightly embarrassed that he had been watched, he turned his head towards the floorboards, to hide his reddening face, and placed a hand behind his head.  
  
"How long have ya been standing there?" he asked.  
  
"I came in about halfway through that kata," she responded. "You seemed to be concentrating hard, so I didn't want to interrupt."  
  
Ranma braved a look at her face. She smiled lightly at him. 'Beautiful,' he thought to himself as he gazed at her smiling face. 'If only she would smile at me like that more often...'  
  
"So..." she began. "Wanna spar before bed? I have way too much energy to go to sleep right now."  
  
"Uh... If ya want to... I suppose we could..." came his response. It wasn't the first time she asked to spar with him, but for some reason, this time seemed different. There was something in her stance, and in the way she walked to the center of the dojo that suggested that she might have had other intentions. Ranma decided to put that train of thought aside for now though, as she got into her ready stance.  
  
They stood apart for what seemed like an eternity, gazing into each other's faces, daring one another to make the first move. A light breeze blew in through the open shoji, and brought with it the scent of the sakura blossoms from the tree outside. A petal from the tree drifted in on the breeze, and gently fell between the two combatants. When the petal made contact with the floor, she attacked.  
  
She started off with a myriad of punches. Ranma managed to dodge them all easily as usual. She then added in a few kicks, but to no avail. He could tell she was beginning to get frustrated with him for not returning any of the attacks.  
  
"Stop jumping around like a crazed monkey and attack me!" she yelled, and stepped up her own offence, drawing on her increasing rage for power. Ranma was slightly surprised to see that she was moving faster as she became more and more angry, and decided to see just how far she could go.  
  
"Normally I don't hit girls, but I might make an exception for you considering how much of a tomboy you are," he commented. "You certainly don't look like much of a girl with your flat chest and big waist!"  
  
He noticed a change in her eyes as the taunts registered in her brain. A whole new fire burned brightly in them as she became more and more angry with her opponent. Again her attacks came faster. He found that he had to start blocking the attacks rather than dodging them all.  
  
"And did I forget to mention your cooking skills? Whoever marries you will have to get his stomach lined with lead, or risk a slow and painful death!"  
  
The fire in her eyes burned brighter than ever, as she neared her peak ability. Though he noticed that she was beginning to make mistakes in her movements, leaving her defense wide open at times, her attacks were coming faster than ever, and he risked getting seriously injured as they became more and more powerful. 'Wow,' he thought to himself. 'Give her a little training, and she could beat me easily.'  
  
It was then that the fire changed slightly, and her face switched from an angry scowl, to a slight smirk. She sent a volley of punches high at his head, pushing him back. He continued to retreat from the attack, narrowly dodging and blocking her attacks, until he felt his foot slip. He had been paying such close attention to her, that he failed to notice she had pushed him out the open shoji, and to the edge of the dojo floor. She then crouched low, and swept his remaining foot out from under him with a kick. He fell to the ground, and she pounced on his chest, pining him to the ground.  
  
"HA!" she yelled in triumph. "Who's laughing now, pervert? I finally beat you"  
  
Needless to say, Ranma was stunned. It wasn't often that he ended up on his back at the end of a fight, and it had never happened as a result of sparing with her. He didn't know what to say.  
  
"Well, now I think I should get some kind of reward for beating you. What shall I ask for?" She contemplated for a while, a thoughtful look on her face and a finger on her chin. Her eyes then brightened, and she looked at him again. "I want the truth from you Ranma," she said. "I'm going to ask you a question, and you'd better tell me the truth, or I'll pin you here with that stone lantern all night."  
  
"O-o-okay" he answered hesitantly, dreading what she might ask of him. Hopefully it would be something he could answer.  
  
She lowered her face until it was mere inches above his. She looked deep into his blue eyes and asked in a low voice: "How do you really feel about me Ranma? Am I really just an un-cute tomboy like you say, or is there something more?"  
  
He gulped audibly. "I-I-I..." he started, but could not get beyond that.  
  
Her eyes blazed slightly as she saw he was going to try to avoid answering her question. "Don't you dare lie to me, Ranma. I heard what you said at Mount Phoenix. Don't try to deny it again!"  
  
Ranma lay there stunned at hearing this. He knew what she wanted him to tell her, but for some reason the words would not come. Another light wind blew through the air, and blew more sakura blossoms around them. The scent of the flowers was overpowering.  
  
"Well then, it seems as if I need to get my answer another way." She then took his head in her hands, and dropped her face the remaining few inches to kiss him lightly. Ranma was surprised at first. 'Why is she doing this? How is this going to get her answer out of me?' he thought to himself. He inhaled sharply through his nose, the scent of the blossoms mixing with hers. It was intoxicating. He gave in to the extra stimulation, and returned the kiss, reaching his arms around her back to embrace her.  
  
They lay together for quite some time caressing each other before she broke it off, coming up for air. She sat up on his chest, the wind blowing around her and through her hair. She smiled down at him. "Beautiful," he said, not realizing that he spoke that word out loud. Her expression changed briefly to surprise at the compliment, and she bent over again for another light kiss. When she pulled back again, she said "Well, I got my answer," then stood up, and walked back to the house to have a bath before she went to bed. Ranma lay on the ground for a while, stunned at what just happened, before he too got up, and went to bed.  
  


* * *

  
That was hours ago, and he had not been able to fall asleep all night. His father insisted on sleeping with the shoji open to allow the cool breeze into the room, but this also allowed in the scent of the blossoms. That scent reminded him over and over again of the kiss he shared with Akane earlier in the evening. He still wondered what had brought her to do such a thing. He looked over at the clock again, and noted that it was now 5:30. Knowing he wasn't going to get any sleep in the next hour, he got up and went to the dojo to get some practice in before anyone else woke up.  
  
He walked slowly through the hall, not making a sound. He knew by now where all the creaking floorboards were, and avoided them deftly. Opening the door only halfway, he silently exited the house, and moved for the dojo. Upon entering, he noticed another figure sitting cross-legged in the center of the floor. The figure noticed him, and stood to face him. In the dim light, Ranma could see that it was Akane, still dressed in her gi.  
  
"What are you doing up this early?" he asked.  
  
"I couldn't sleep," she replied.  
  
Ranma approached her slowly. "Why not?"  
  
"I was up all night thinking about..." she hesitated, and looked down at her feet in embarrassment.  
  
"About what?" He was now standing next to her.  
  
She looked up at him, staring into his eyes. "About this," she replied, and wrapped her arms around his neck as she reached up to kiss him.  
  
Ranma was surprised at first, but almost immediately returned the kiss, wrapping his arms around her slender body.  
  
They stood there in the center of the dark dojo for a while, kissing and embracing each other as if it were the end of the world. Finally he came up for air, and stared into her eyes.  
  
"Beautiful," he said, this time meaning to let the word out.  
  
"What are we going to tell our fathers?" she asked.  
  
"Why should we tell them anything? They'll just blow everything out of proportion. I'd like to marry you some day, but I'm not ready yet. Right now, I just want to do this."  
  
She sighed contently against his chest. "Good answer," came her reply, and she reached up for another kiss as the wind blew another wave of blossoms and scent through the dojo.  
  


* * *

  
Author's Note: Well, here it is: my very first fanfic. I've been meaning to write a fic for a while now, but I was never inspired enough until this morning after I had a sleepless night of my own (unfortunately, not for the same reason as Ranma and Akane). What do you think? Be gentle! 


End file.
